Luigi's Echo (9ε)
by Stuffulkins
Summary: After hearing about the recent "Luigi's Mansion" remake and getting his spotlight on the blog, Smash Bros. Luigi has what he thinks is a great idea: Inviting his counterpart's (sort of) new acquaintance Gooigi into Smash as his Echo Fighter! Are they up to the challenge? What will everyone else think? Can Luigi gather enough signatures in time?
1. Goo-d Time

"Okay, we're almost here," Luigi said into a large clear box covered by a shroud. He then opened the door to the training gym, set the box down, and removed the shroud. Inside was an almost equally large mound of green goo. Luigi then opened the lid.

"Alright, you can come out now." The goo rose up and transformed itself into a gelatinous likeness of Luigi himself—complete with an original Poltergust 3000 that seemed to be an extension of his body.

"What do you think?" Luigi asked excitedly. The globed green doppelgänger looked around the room; it was mostly a large white space with some lines painted on the walls. Nearby was another room with a lot of gym equipment, and at the other end was the door toward the main hallway. He turned to Luigi's excited face and nodded.

"I knew you'd like it. Welcome to Smash Bros.! Now Gooigi, are you ready," Luigi said as he got two Sandbags from a locker. He set them far apart enough so if one Sandbag went flying off it wouldn't hit Luigi or Gooigi. He nodded again.

"Give him the old one-two. Up tilt. Hip thrust. Uppercut. Aerial. 'Slappyface. Forward Smash!" Gooigi was trying his best to mimic the normal Luigi's actions. They then repeated the first part of the routine to see how Gooigi improved, now that he knew the moves. "Alright, good job. Now, Fireball!" Luigi summoned a green fireball and threw it at his Sandbag. Gooigi then performed the same movement, but nothing happened. He turned once again to Luigi and shrugged.

Luigi sighed. "Oh yeah, I forgot the whole 'no fire thing'. Hmm…I know. You could use one of the other Elemental Medals you've got in your Poltergust." Gooigi turned the appropriate switch on his Poltergust and shot an Iceball at the Sandbag. "That'll do," Luigi said assuredly, "Ready for the rest of the Specials? Green Missile! Luigi Cyclone! Super Jump Punch!" After that, they trained some more before playfully sparring with some items.

"Woo-hee! What a workout! You think you're ready to become a Smasher?" Gooigi nodded toward his coach again. "Great! Now if I can just get the others' approval before you meet Master Hand…Why don't you a' come with me? I'll show you to everyone." Luigi pulled out a clipboard, pencil, and pen thinking to himself while Gooigi was cleaning the Training Room. When the duo was finished, they gave each other a high-five. "Let's a' go!" Luigi squealed.


	2. Echoes and the Perfect Attendance Crew

Luigi thought it would only be appropriate to start asking the other Echo Fighters, so he did. But first, Gooigi posted his name on a bulletin board where all the other Smashers posted their requests for characters, stages, trophies, etc. On it, notes for Echo Fighters were written on different colored notes than completely new fighters, and as a rule, only Smashers who didn't already have an Echo Fighter were allowed to post because having more than one would be considered cheating. Both Luigi and Gooigi were humbled by some of the other names displayed: Zack, Alm, Mark, Viridi, Tom Nook, Funky Kong, Ninten, Linka, Demise, Panther, Jeanne, Dry Bowser, Alph/Brittany/Charlie, Toon Zelda, and Ms. Pac-Man to name a few; but it never hurts to try.

After that, the two walked into a meeting room greeted by all the confirmed Echo Fighters up to Chrom and Dark Samus, except for Dark Pit and Dark Samus, who just rolled their eyes. "An Echo of _you_?! _Ugh_." Dark Pit grunted as he left the room. Dark Samus disappeared as well.

"What is this thing?" Lucina asked.

"Oh hello, I'm Luigi as you all know, and this is my new friend Gooigi." Gooigi correspondingly waved.

The moment Luigi finished their introduction, Daisy stood up and began to move toward him; "Tee hee. Two sweeties? Well let me have the honor of being the second to sign!" She took Luigi's pen and clipboard and signed her name. She shook Gooigi's hand afterward on her way to the table. Although his expression was hard to read, Gooigi shied away and rubbed his head. It was clear that even the clone was smitten with her.

Luigi hid part of his face with his clipboard saying, "T-Th-Thanks, Daisy. Anyone else?" Fellow newcomer Richter also volunteered to sign, followed by Lucina. Her father was deliberating with himself.

"I don't know, they both look like the kind of guys who seem more than a little eager to clean a plate, and there are plenty of big eaters in Smash as it is, including Richter over here. I'll think about it as I get to know you." Chrom shook Luigi's hand.

"Thank you very much, guys."

Throughout the rest of that day, Luigi and Gooigi got to talking with those he knew best: the other members of the Original 12; Mario, Donkey Kong, Link, Samus, Yoshi, Kirby, Fox, Pikachu, Ness, Captain Falcon, and Jigglypuff. Of course, all it took to persuade Mario was his brother's goofy smile. Donkey Kong and Yoshi went ahead and signed too, but none of the Links, Samus, Zero Suit Samus, nor Fox or Falco wanted anything to do with Luigi's antics. The Links' decline was what hurt them the most; Luigi had always regarded them as friends, yet—as he put it, "Do I really mess a' everything up that bad?" he asked Gooigi as they walked toward Kirby's favorite room: The Snack Room. Gooigi held up the clipboard and pointed to the seven signatures they had, as if he was trying to say, "Aw C'mon, at least these guys like you, and more I bet!" "Yeah, you make a good point. I'm actually great friends with Link and Toon Link; maybe they just mistook you for a Chu Chu—that also might explain why you got hit with all those boomerangs.

Kirby then exited through the door in front of them, having finished his snack. "Oh, hi Luigi! Having a wonderful day? Ooh! A green Jell-O sculpture! Can I have it, please?"

"Actually Kirby, this is Gooigi; I'm trying to see if I can get approval for him as an Echo Fighter for me."

"Yay! A new friend!" While he had his mouth open, Kirby Inhaled Gooigi whole before spitting him out. Kirby now had a translucent version of Luigi's hat and a mini Poltergust 3000 on his back, complete with a nozzle that could also shoot out Iceballs. "Of course, I'll sign!" Luigi crouched down and gave Kirby the pen, but instead of just signing it, Kirby also drew a little picture of himself to accompany his signature. "Good luck Luigi and…um, Gooigi!"

Next, they found Ness, another one of Luigi's closest friends, but Ness had an immediate adverse reaction to Gooigi's appearance, similar to the Links before him, albeit slightly more terrified. "No! The flashbacks are coming! I can't sleep comfortably at night with that thing close by. I almost need a bath just thinking about it. Oh, wait, if he does make it, we'll never be able to take a bath again! Aaaaaaaaah!" Ness ran away screaming, which probably meant that they weren't going to get anything positive from Lucas either.

"Poor kid, you must have reminded him too much of his encounters with Master Belch," Luigi bemoaned.

They went back to the Snack Room to find Pikachu and Jigglypuff. Pikachu expressed great curiosity towards Gooigi. He gently poked him a couple of times then offered him a piece of candy, which he gladly accepted. Gooigi returned the favor by giving him a head rub, "Pika Pika!" then petting him underneath his chin, which he especially loved. "Pikachu! Pika?" Pikachu gestured to Luigi's pen and wrote its name gleefully.

Jigglypuff was watching the whole event unfold. "I don't know, he looks kind of creepy, and he can't talk, which doesn't help. He's not made of poison or anything is he?"

Gooigi shook his head and waved at Jigglypuff. "Not to my knowledge," Luigi added. "Well, if he's anything like you, I'm sure Gooigi would make a great addition! Just one more question? Will he fall asleep if I Sing?"

"Um, we should a' probably leave a' now. I told a' Captain Falcon I'd be at a' his place in a couple of minutes."

"Yo, Luigi, my man! What brings you and your Echo wannabe to the Big Blue on this fine day?"

Luigi explained his aim to Captain Falcon.

"Hm, I'm not sure if a slime guy like him would do too well around these parts, but I suppose if your friend can change form at will and everyone here—and has—made the Big Blue on foot mid-race, there's no harm in having him around."

"So, is that a 'yes'?"

"Of course! Now, let me see that pen. FALCON SIGN!" Captain Falcon jammed his fist on the clipboard, breaking it in half!

"Um, I'm pretty sure I can fix this," Luigi said nervously. The two smirked awkwardly at one another. ("Phew. That could've gone a lot worse,") Luigi thought to himself, ("Ever since Snake came back, Falcon's been kind of mean to all the newcomers lately. I'm just glad neither of us got Falcon Punched.)

I guess I should get to bed. How about you, pal?" Gooigi nodded. The two went back to the Mario Bros' bedroom, one of the few to have a bunk bed. Gooigi vacuumed up some dust under the bed before resuming his globular form and sleeping under. In bed, Luigi leaned down and whispered, "We're a' gonna have another great day tomorrow, though not quite as nice as this a' one, since today was _finally_ my big day. He. He. See you in the morning." Luigi then fell asleep.

Signatures: Luigi, Daisy, Richter, Lucina, Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Kirby 😊 , Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon


	3. Brawl in the Family

"Good morning Mario!" Mario was awakened by his brother's greeting and got up out of bed to greet him as well.

"Good morning, Luigi. So, who are you gonna ask today?"

"Well, I'm just gonna talk to everyone I can. I only need about a' thirty more signatures."

"I'm sure you'll find enough people; you're one of the kindest and most popular Smashers here after all."

"Oh right. See you at breakfast!" Hearing the brothers get up, Gooigi soon slid out from under the bunk bed and rose up into his more Luigi-like shape.

After getting ready and starting to eat their food, they were soon approached by Sheik. Now Sheik's presence was most unusual. Normally, Sheik usually avoided him due to their mostly conflicting personalities. "That's quite a strange-looking ally you've potentially got there. Hopefully, he'll put up an…interesting fight. See you at the gym in eight hours. Bring your friend, and _don't_ be late." Sheik then disappeared throwing a smoke bomb on the ground.

Luigi went back to eating his morning meal. Noticing that it had cooled quite a bit, he asked his green doppelgänger if he wanted to try some. He was a little hesitant at first, but he loved it. This was his first time trying out baked goods.

After a brief session of training, Luigi and Gooigi decided to save time by opening up a booth in one of the many lounging areas, but Luigi felt like that there was one more person he needed to see himself before inviting everyone over: Snake. They wandered around the residentiary lodge looking for Snake's room when suddenly, a big, green, scaly hand pinned Luigi against the wall. "Gyaah! King K. Rool! Someone, help me! What do you want from me? I don't know what I did, but whatever it was, I'm sorry!"

"Do you say that to _everyone_ you meet? Talk about wimpy! That's what they should call you: 'Wimp-igi! Gyahahaha!' Anyway, you're copying me!"

Gooigi tried to intervene, but King K. Rool gave him a face full of chest armor, making him too dizzy to do anything else. Turning his non-crazy eye toward Gooigi to keep it on him, he lifted Luigi in the air, grabbing him by his shirt collar. Luigi gasped and quivered. "W-W-What are you talking about?"

"Hmph! As if you don't know! Your buddy there has a portable cannon just like me! What is that all about? I mean, he just shoots it out and then sucks people in—just like me! Are you saying that you think you are better than the almighty King K. Rool? Because that's how Kirby does it, and he's _all_ about copying!"

"I-I wasn't trying to do that at all. H-He just can't perform my standard special, so I gave him the one he has!"

"Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. Well, I'm about to give you one heck of an 'excuse' for me knocking you into next week!" King K. Rool readied to give him a punch worthy of a crocodile king.

"K. Rool, please!"

" **King** K. Rool!"

" _King_ K. Rool, I'll do anything you want! Just please don't hurt me!"

"Nothing you can say will stop me! Here it comes!"

Just then, a giant mechanized wooden hammer hit K. Rool right in the back. He dropped Luigi in shock before being sent several feet across the hallway. Luigi brushed himself off and smiled, for his rescuer was none other than King Dedede!

"Ha! Ha! Serves you right, K. Rool! I've always wanted to do that!" King Dedede helped Luigi up and placed one of his hands on his shoulder, "So word's going around that one of my retainers is wanting an Echo Fighter. Ha ha!"

"Oh, Kirby told you?" Luigi said.

"He told everyone. "And that means I can get, um, let's see…" King Dedede pulled out some glasses and a print-out calculator, and did some math, "About twelve percent more work done! Now gimmie that pen and paper!" the self-proclaimed king guffawed. Luigi was more than happy to oblige.

"Thank you so much, Dedede!"

King Dedede pulled Luigi over towards him, giving him one of what he called "Tough Love Hugs."

"I was just on a' my way to see Snake."

"And I was just on my way to look for the perfect opportunity to snipe that back slasher. And everyone thought I had a bone to pick with Shulk. Tch! But you just happened to provide the perfect distraction. Why, if it weren't for me, you'd be the King of De-De-Distraction!"

"Uh, yeah. Ha-ha."

"NOW GO GET 'EM, LUGE!" Dedede proudly "ordered" at the top of his lungs.

Snake thrust his door wide open. "Ugh. What's with all this noise? I'm trying to perfect, never mind, it's classified. Huh?" He saw Luigi waving to King Dedede, "Oh, just a fool and his whipping boy. What did I tell him; time to teach that two-bit penguin a lesson once and for all."

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa, Snake, King Dedede and I are a' well-established friends now!"

"You mean those words weren't just an empty promise when I bailed you out of that giant prank at the poll?"

"Yeah! You see, Ness and I saved his life once, and he started respecting us; we've even been promoted to his 'royal court'. I guess we're just a' that a' nice of guys!"

"That's…almost touching. (He is too pure for this world.)"

"What was that?"

"I concur is all. So, is that your clone?"

"Mm-hm!"

"I never thought I'd approve of such a thing, but I'll make an exception—just for you, 'out of pity.'" Snake playfully nudged Luigi with his elbow, then signed, "Wow…the signature of a Belmont? I mean…have a nice day. Remember, you saw nothing."

"Thanks, Snake!"

Snake disappeared into the shadows.

Gooigi directed Luigi's attention to a wall clock.

"Hm. We still have a couple of hours before we meet up with Sheik; wanna go ahead and set up the reception, or do you still need a moment to get your balance back?"

Gooigi stretched out his arms against a wall until his pupils stopped spinning.

"Oh, thank goodness, but first, we'll need some supplies. Ooh! I'll ask Villager if I can borrow some lemons from Tortimer Island to make lemonade out of."

When Luigi mentioned Tortimer Island, his goo friend frowned. While a tropical island seemed like a dream to most people, he was worried that he would melt, but he did have an idea on what he could do.

He held the clipboard and pointed to the picture of the blue and orange Inklings Luigi had drawn.

"You wanna play with the Inklings now, huh; any special reason?"

Gooigi shook his head with a proud grin on his face.

"Oh, so it's a surprise? Can't wait to see it when I get back. See you!"

Signatures: Luigi, Daisy, Richter, Lucina, Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Kirby 😊 , Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, King Dedede, Snake


	4. Self-worth

"Thanks, Kapp!" Luigi said with a wink as he arrived at The Kappa Family's cabana. He later waved at and tipped Leilani with a Coin flicked on her reception desk.

"What a nice young man," Grams told her daughter-in-law.

He grabbed a basket and collected some fruit. By the time he stumbled into the cabana again, he was struggling to hold them all and could barely see. Leilani offered to help him set it in a crate Kapp'n provided to all visitors.

"Thank you miss. Hey Villager! Hey Isabelle!"

"Hi Luigi! Are you planning some kind of party?" Isabelle asked.

"Yeah! I'm holding a fest to see if I can get my own Echo Fighter."

"Yay! I love parties! We'll be there soon!" Isabelle exclaimed pulling out a party popper.

Villager nodded.

Meanwhile, Gooigi was engaged in a friendly free-for-all with the Inklings. The purple female Inkling failed to see an incoming Splat Bomb and got nearly launched off Moray Towers because she was distracted by a strange property of Gooigi's: his color changed whenever he touched a large enough amount of ink.

"Whoa! That's a pretty cool trick you've got there! I can totally see you using that to mess with your foes. Between that and your ability to disappear in all colors of ink, it's like you're made of ink yourself!"

Gooigi dodged a dash attack then shrugged his shoulders. He was having a blast with the Inklings. (Who knows? Maybe Goo is part ink? Oh, how he wishes he could speak to them to find out more about them. Hang on? Is that a Killer Wail? Time to run!) After the match, the Inklings gave him seven buckets of ink and a Super Sea Snail plush.

The two reunited in the kitchen. Gooigi set the buckets down on the floor. He opened them one by one and jumped in the bucket of light blue ink in his compressed form. When he emerged, he was now colored sky blue!

"Oh, I see! The ink acts as a pigment, and you're getting your alternate colors. Nice forward thinking!" Luigi exclaimed.

Gooigi performed a similar stunt for his proposed six remaining colors: pink, orange, gold, red, purple, and white: all reminiscent of ghosts they and their Mario-verse counterparts had fought.

"It's almost 4! We promised to face Sheik!" Luigi said. The two dashed back to the gym. He opened the door. Sure enough, there was Sheik, standing perfectly still—staring at him.

"You're alone."

"I could've sworn I brought Gooigi here. I just…"

Sheik tossed a small Burst Grenade to the left, revealing that Gooigi was trying to perform a sneak attack.

"I lied. You _almost_ have the element of surprise; that's actually pretty impressive for a non-Fighter. Now that you are here, I wish to fight both of you."

"At once?"

"How else am I supposed to study your nuances?" Sheik inquired striking an age-uke, "Let's take this to Battlefield."

Luigi and Gooigi looked at each other and nodded in assurance.

As soon as the round began, they all gathered on the top platform, and Luigi got a few hits on Sheik. When she got back on the ground, Luigi attempted a Super Jump Punch, but Sheik blocked it with a shield.

"Ha. Perfectly predictable." She said tossing a Bombchu at him before turning her focus on Gooigi, but much to her surprise, his feet didn't even leave the platform.

Gooigi tried his hardest to keep up, taking in a brief onslaught of attacks, but in a moment of brevity, he finally managed to kick her away with a tilt attack—his first landed hit, but he got scared when she came back up from the edge. He spent the next few seconds expecting Luigi to scold him before realizing that he wasn't the type to do something like that, and remembering he said that it was okay to be scared on the first day.

Luigi immediately started running back into the fight. On the way back to Sheik, he grabbed a crate, but Sheik hit him and threw it herself. In it was a Bumper, a Super Leaf, and a Pokéball. Luigi and Gooigi came up with a plan. Luigi went immediately for the Pokéball, and Gooigi hit Sheik with the Bumper to distract her (successfully dodging one of her attacks) and rack up some damage. Their Pokéball contained a Staryu. It rose up in the air to pursue and pummel Sheik with the flying stars of Swift. However, while the two Luigis were celebrating their teamwork, they both accidentally crashed into the Bumper shortly after one another. They both laughed it off.

Then Luigi noticed a capsule and threw it at Sheik, cautioning Gooigi to move back. Not knowing that potential explosions could hurt allies, the new guy was none the wiser and got caught in the explosion, along with Sheik. Luigi himself barely avoided it as Sheik was falling after getting hit by the Staryu. With that, Luigi scored the first KO.

He grabbed another Super Leaf and checked o Gooigi, who had landed face-first between the top and right platforms.

Sheik was determined to show these two who was boss, socking Luigi with the blunt end of a Drill Arm after missing with the drill itself. Each of them gathered on the left platform for another close-up scuffle. In the chaos, a Fire Flower and Daybreak piece appeared. Gooigi grabbed the Fire Flower, surprising everyone, including himself, and fired it at Sheik, holding her off long enough for Luigi to zoom in with a Green Missile to obtain the first piece of the Daybreak and a Screw Attack. The two repeated the strategy for the second piece, with Luigi keeping Sheik at bay with a well-placed Luigi Cyclone and forward smash and a surprise Iceball courtesy of his echo's custom moves. Sheik got back on the ground declaring that she didn't think this wasn't funny in the slightest. Then she gave Gooigi a butterfly kick strong enough to knock the flower out of his hand and over the left platform. Defending Gooigi, Luigi jumped and grabbed the flower mid-air. He aimed it at Sheik, but the flower only emitted a puff of smoke, much to his shock, so he just threw it at her for some light damage. Nevertheless, she managed to grab the final piece, but it wasn't long before the two Luigis surrounded her. The two got another idea. Gooigi kept her in place with his Poltergust 3000 and Luigi scored another KO with a forward smash. They both eagerly waited for the piece to drop. Meanwhile, Luigi befriended a Dedenne, who agreed to help them.

Just as they had predicted, the final piece had dropped. Luigi grabbed it and prepared to fire.

"I won't go down like this!" Sheik called out. She threw another burst grenade, tripping up Luigi and causing him to launch the Daybreak at a much higher position than he anticipated. With him temporarily out of her way, Sheik snuck to the right edge of the stage and left the vulnerable and dumbfounded Gooigi barely able to remain on the battlefield, but Sheik continued to show him no mercy, and targeted him with a fully charged blast from a Super Scope—launching him clean out of the Blast Zone. When the Daybreak ran out, Luigi knocked the Super Scope away from Sheik and started firing all the way through the call for time.

Luigi and Gooigi grabbed each other's hand and jumped for joy, knowing that they had won, while Sheik clapped slowly in front of them. They turned around and noticed.

"I'm impressed. Lighter due to his colloid form, yet generally harder to strike off the ground. Takes more damage from fire, loss of all fire damage of his own; nearly unparalleled crouching skill, and he lacks your plunger grapple, so he relies on wind suction for his grab—all in addition to him working on some unique stances, idle poses, taunts, and victory poses; he seems to like some of yours too much, though; so he kept them. He certainly has potential from that fight, even though you ended up doing all the work. You have my word." Sheik signed Luigi's petition and disappeared.

The duo spent the rest of the afternoon laying out the reception for the public. At around six o'clock, Luigi opened it to all Smashers.

Ness and Toon Link approached Luigi first. "We're sorry Luigi. We mistook your friend for enemies of ours."

"Turns out Gooigi's a pretty nice guy, well as nice as a guy who can't talk can be."

"If it makes you feel any better, we'll help out with your cause."

"Have fun!" Luigi said.

Bayonetta heard his voice and walked over to him. "Ah, Luigi, it's always nice to see your face," she said in a doting voice, placing her right hand affectionately just below his lower lip, "Ordering an entire Echo just so you can up the ante on being hard to get' with a little decoy?" She paused dramatically. By this point, he knew how to tell if she was teasing him, though he felt no less flustered. "I kid!" she exclaimed. Throughout the whole exchange he had a nervous smile as his cheeks shone in a peculiar mix of embarrassment and gratitude.

After that, newly playing romantic music subconsciously directed Luigi toward his old flame: Rosalina. She was with her Lumas as always and was rather happy to see him. "Oh, uh…Rosie. Sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you." He looked around anxiously to see if anyone was watching. "I probably shouldn't even be here." Rosalina looked slightly confused. "What I'm trying to say…um…If this whole thing changes…and I end up, it's not like I still don't love you or anything. Four years is a lot of time to get to know each other. Uh, I'd want to make sure our last dance together be memorable. Wait, that wasn't what I meant!"

Rosalina chuckled lightly. "Luigi, nothing says we can't be friends." The two ended up grabbing each other's hands at the same time and waltzed away until the next song, and Villager came up to Luigi.

He gestured if he could touch Gooigi. "Isabelle thinks he's slimy, but I want to be sure." Gooigi's eyebrows furrowed at the word.

Luigi snickered. "Villager, I am the biggest neat freak in Smash. Do you honestly think I would be this excited about Gooigi if he could be in Smash if he was gross?" Gooigi put his antagonism toward the Animal Crossing Fighters aside and demonstrated his noble mannerisms eloquently sipping some tea alongside Peach, Zelda, and Female Corrin—who taught him how to do it. Once he finished, Luigi set the cup on Villager's hand—spick and span. In turn, he showed it to Isabelle.

"I'm so sorry Sir; I just always try my hardest to keep the place as clean as possible, just like how I did in Smashville. Heh. Heh."

A few moments later, Luigi saw a particular face that caused him to shriek and hide behind the long table. Gooigi saw him and went over to see what was wrong.

"That's Simon Belmont," he told him as he began to sweat with anxiety, "What's HE doing here?" I can't just go over there and ask him," Gooigi put his fists together and was ready to give this "Simon" a piece of his mind before Luigi pulled him back. "No. No. No. Not like that. I have to do some kind of favor for him. (Okay, you can do this; just think of something and TALK to him.)"

Gooigi just stared at him, now equating Simon to someone like Snake, but still as vigilant as ever.

Luigi walked over to the table where Simon was seated. "Uh…Hey…Simon, you know these flowers right here? You can keep them! I'll iron your hood myself too, and um…"

"Ha! Boy, I told you. You don't owe me anything. Why I was actually younger than you when I slew my first set of monsters."

Luigi sobbed; "That didn't help at all."

"What I meant to say was that you need not thank me; I have spent my life reading stories of my ancestors and training in the ways of various weapons for what was perceived as an eternal conflict. You, with no such task thrust upon you, started out as a romantic with a scholastic focus in architecture, then became a knight in shining armor and student of mine because of your kindness in spite of your high disinclination to fight. Now that is real bravery! The point stands is that I appreciate your gratitude nevertheless; it is what us Belmonts live for, for it makes the darkness that much easier to vanquish. I just might name my son after you one day."

Luigi smiled and the two exchanged a good, long, hearty laugh.

"Wow. You sure know how to help a guy when he's down, right after kicking him."

"Now that is something else of which I am thankful for. And your Echo has my approval. I look forward to our next encounter."

Gooigi waved back, eyeing the Vampire Killer, imagining flailing it as part of his arm to slay demons. During his fantasy, he realized that there was something holding onto his head; Pichu looked upside-down with its shining, adorable eyes.

"Pichu."

Gooigi instantly picked the adorable Tiny Mouse Pokémon up and hugged it.

"Phew. Hm? Lucario, hey; didn't expect you to show up!" Luigi said.

"Don't get too many ideas; I merely came out of my own curiosity, and I considered that if you were going to get an Echo, I should be thankful for this one being a creation of few words, er…worries," Lucario explained.

"Hm?"

"Nothing." Lucario left.

Once the reception had finished, Luigi, Gooigi, and a couple of friends stuck around to clean everything up. Once he was done, Luigi noticed his clipboard and smiled at all the Fighters who were willing to support him. He and Gooigi had succeeded.

Signatures: Luigi, Daisy, Richter, Lucina, Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Kirby 😊, Pikachu, Jigglypuff, Captain Falcon, King Dedede, Snake, Sheik, Villager, Rosalina, Bayonetta ❤️, Pichu, Peach, Zelda, Corrin, Inkling Girl and Boy, Ness, Toon Link, Diddy Kong, Simon, Ice Climbers, Marth, Roy, Pit, Pokémon Trainer (Male & Female), Mii Fighters (3x), Both Robins, Cloud, Chrom, Palutena, Mr. Game & Watch, Wario, Olimar, Ike, R.O.B., Mega Man, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, PAC-MAN, Greninja, Lucario, Isabelle


	5. Clash of Goo

Luigi ran and skipped all the way to the Final Destination where he and Gooigi held their petition in front of Master Hand. Master Hand stared at them and pondered.

Luigi gave a huge grin. "Yeah?"

Master Hand spoke; "Luigi, your efforts are truly commendable; if only I had been informed of your Echo's existence earlier. I really should've told everyone sooner, but some things are best-kept secret for their time."

"Huh? I guess that's a no. Sorry, me."

"Do not fret too much; I will remember this conversation. In the meantime, I will leave you two with an able consolation prize." Master Hand conjured up two tickets, which he gave to them.

"Wowie! These are a' the best seats in the house! 'Little Mac vs. The Mysterious Last Echo'! Wonder who it could be? C'mon! Let's a' watch someone's dream come true. Thanks Master Hand." Luigi and Gooigi high-fived as they made their way to the Boxing Ring.

"Alright, let's see what this new guy is all about."

The bell rang. On one side was Little Mac—The Bruiser from the Bronx—and on the other was a blonde gent wearing a bright red-orange gi who introduced himself as Ken Masters—The Fire-Breathing Fist. Gooigi quailed at him when he read the title but reassured to himself that if/when he arrived as Luigi's Echo Fighter, he would still try to become friends with him.

"He must be Ryu's Echo Fighter," Luigi whispered. Gooigi gave Luigi a look of perplexity. "Ken is Ryu's childhood friend and rival, kind of like Mario and Wario. In his home universe, he also has a wife and son!"

Gooigi smiled, as if to say, "Good for him!" then he wondered what Luigi's son would look like if he had one. ("Could I have a son too?")

Little Mac and Ken exchanged a steady stream of punches until Ken irritably gave Little Mac an Inazuma Kick right in his shins. While this hurt Little Mac, it also left Ken open. Soon enough, Little Mac had him on the corner, boxing Ken with little mercy.

"This one is in the bag," he thought, "I've had a long time to get familiar with Ryu's moves, so don't think I've had your tricks nailed down to the point!" Little Mac began to charge a Forward smash attack.

"We'll see about that," Ken leered when he saw an opening. He then socked Little Mac right in his right cheek, knocking him off to the side. "Bring it on!"

"I'm not giving up yet!" Little Mac shouted narrowly dodging a roundhouse kick. He later tried to counter with a punch that Ken blocked. The latter attempted to kick at him again. Little Mac lunged at him, but Ken jumped out of the way. When he landed on the ground, Ken fired a Hadoken, which just barely missed Little Mac's face.

Luigi cheered, "Yeah! Go Little Mac! Give him the old what-for!" making a mock uppercut and side-jab. Gooigi, not sure who to cheer for, continually applauded each impressive performance.

"This has gone on long enough," Ken muttered.

Ken gave one last kick and Little Mac punched him into the ropes. With that hit, Ken's Final Smash was ready. First, he struck Little Mac with a Shippu Jinraikyaku, then hit him with a relentless series of hurricane kicks that sent Mac right into the top of the jumbotron.

"Oh! That has got to hurt…and be really expensive to fix!" Luigi gasped.

"That's right! Yeah!" Ken boasted.

Luigi and Gooigi noticed another Fighter dash from one of the entrances and Cross Chopped its way into the ring; its face concealed by a burning hood. The entire crowd was taken aback.

"Whoa! What is that? It must be some kind of Pokémon!"

Its hood singed, revealing a bipedal red and black tiger: the Heel Pokémon-Incineroar.

"ROAR!"

"So, wanna fight fire with fire, huh?"

Incineroar crouched and growled; then the two tackled each other.

It was pretty evenly matched until Ken punched Incineroar enough times to trigger its Final Smash. He rolled under a Hadoken, throwing Ken into the ropes so hard that he bounced back straight into an uppercut.

The crowd chanted: "MAX!"

Incineroar rocketed Ken up in the air.

"MALICIOUS!"

Then a dropkick, another uppercut.

"MOON-"

And finally, a powerful headbutt slamming Ken straight into the center of the ring.

"-SAAUUUUULT!" The bell started ringing wildly as the impact sent Ken crashing straight into the jumbotron screaming.

"Yikes! That is one powerful Pokémon!"

By that point, Gooigi was covering his eyes in fright, only getting a tiny glimpse of Incineroar's Final Smash through a gap in between his fingers.

Incineroar cackled in delight, posing for the exhilarated audience. It even eyed Luigi and Gooigi while celebrating its victory. Then, behind him, he could hear King K. Rool, Bowser Jr., and Villager readying for a fight of their own.

"Urr."

Incineroar ignored the smaller fighters and went straight for King K. Rool. The crocodile king threw his crown behind Incineroar. He was caught off guard by the crown's second hit and K. Rool's Blunderbuss. Incineroar jumped back into the ring pressing a down aerial against Villager followed by attacking Bowser Jr. with a backbreaker rack, using Revenge, and taking out K. Rool himself with a perfectly timed Alolan Whip.

"This isn't over!" K. Rool threatened.

Incineroar posed again, directing the spotlight toward Luigi and Gooigi. Confused, Luigi flipped over his ticket; it wasn't just any ticket, it was a backstage pass! The two ran onto the ring where Incineroar lifted Luigi's arm in comradery, laughing.

"Oh, uh, well I wouldn't exactly consider myself your number _one_ fan; I think he is," Luigi said looking to see if Charizard happened to be there by any chance.

"Rawr."

"Aw, you're just saying that because I was the first Fighter you saw cheering for you."

"Mm." Incineroar breathed a little fire on one of its claws, blew the flame out, and branded its signature in Luigi's clipboard. After Luigi finished blowing to cool it down, Incineroar beckoned Luigi to come with it backstage, yet went on ahead without him—in desperate need of a meal after all that fighting.

Along the way, Luigi passed by an injured Ken who shoved him indignantly, telling him, "Out of my way, Loser."

"He must still be bitter about losing to Incineroar."

Gooigi gave a mean stare to Ken when his back was turned, but at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to wholly disrespect him since he was also an Echo Fighter, and for even standing up to Incineroar to begin with. The Luigis eventually caught up to Incineroar, who was wolfing down Pokébeans and other foodstuffs.

"Rawr."

"And now you want me to tell you the secrets of Smash?"

"Eyy!"

"Okay. How about something really out there, like Reset Bomb Forest?"

"Rawr!"

Gooigi tugged on Luigi's arm, gesturing him that he had to leave now since the fight was over.

"Bye. I really hope you can make it soon!"

Luigi and Incineroar followed him in the newly constructed summoning chamber. Gooigi waved back and nodded before stepping on a glowing podium and leaving the World of Smash.

* * *

"RAWR!"

"3, 2, 1, Go!"

Incineroar chased Luigi to the left edge of Reset Bomb Forest and tried to Cross Chop him, only for Luigi to jump out of the way and Incineroar charging arms-first off the stage.

The announcer shouted, "LUIGI WINS!" as Incineroar clapped in a slow, begrudged manner.

"Uh…You're not mad at me, are you?" Luigi asked shyly.

Incineroar thumped his chest with its right paw and chuffed. "(If this was my first fight, yes, I would be…I'm gonna have to get used to this, as you so clearly are.)"

Luigi took it as a sign of thanks. Even if he didn't have an Echo like Samus, Peach, Marth, Ryu, or Simon yet; and even if Fighters like Fox nor Dark Pit _still_ took him seriously, it was still nice to know that after all these years, Smashers from all over, at least some of them anyway, continue to look to him for a tip or two.


End file.
